As someone born of Nigerian parents myself, I have had the opportunity to live in Nigerian for a few years even though I was born and raised in the UK, so I do have some knowledge on the workings of the Nigerian culture and I am able to compare and contrast it with cultures from other parts of the world.

For the sake of fairness and balance, I must mention from the outset that these points do not necessarily apply to every single Nigerian person – as not all people are the same and I am trying to steer clear of sweeping generalisations and stereotypes. I have also been careful to mention an equal number of good and bad points (part 2 of the article) to prevent my article from becoming skewered or lopsided.

I would say that (from my observations and knowledge acquired from living in Nigeria myself) the 5 good points about Nigerian people are as follows:

bigstockphoto_African_Couple_3964719RESPECT FOR FAMILY AND ELDERS.Most Nigerians have a very strong sense of respect and responsibility towards their parents especially as the parents get older – dumping their parents in an old people’s home is an absolute no-no. As their parents become older and more frail, they see it as their filial duty to take care of their aging parents until death. It is not unusual for a Nigerian family to have their elderly parents living with them in the same house. This respect for parents also extends to respect for all elders – in Nigerian culture you are expected to speak respectfully to ALL elders, not just the elders you are related to.This quality is particularly obvious in Nigerian children and the way they speak so respectfully to adults in the home, in public and in the classroom. I remember once, when I was in Lagos on holiday and my cousin asked me to pop over and see her at work – her workplace is a classroom as she is a school teacher. As I walked into the class, the entire classroom of children, without being told to do so, all stood up to great me in unison. As anyone who has been educated in the Nigerian school system will confirm, this is typical of almost all Nigerian schools. Compare that with the antics of British and American school children who show no respect for their elders or parents are incredibly rude (even vile) to their classroom teachers. I also have a British friend who is (or I should say “was”) a school teacher in UK. She left that career nearly a nervous wreck because of the horrible behaviour of British classroom kids – no amount of money could ever tempt her back.

VERY FRIENDLY, HOSPITABLE AND OPEN TO PEOPLE.Nigerians are very friendly and open towards people – I have noticed that for myself when on holiday in Nigeria. They tend to have very low personal boundaries and are not “stranger-phobic”. You could be walking along on a hot sunny day in Nigeria, knock on anyone’s door and ask for an ice cold drink of water and you would get it! They would not refuse you or turn you away – more than likely, they would even give you an ice-cold drink of coca-cola, forget water! Try knocking on a stranger’s door in UK and asking for a drink – the police will be called to take your sorry behind away immediately!

VALUE AND APPRECIATION OF EDUCATION.Most Nigerians hold a deep value for education and professional qualifications be it degrees, PHDs, Medical studies, Engineering, Accountancy qualifications etc. Most Nigerians view it as a given that they will pursue educational qualifications or professional training/accreditations. There is no need to persuade them – that would be like preaching to the converted. It is not even a topic for debate. Period. End of argument.

STRONG SENSE OF COMMUNITYHaving lived for sometime in Nigeria myself, I can categorically state that the social cohesion and community spirit in Nigeria is a million times better than that of UK or USA. Never, never, never in a million years could an old person die in his/her house in Nigeria and nobody would realise it until the smell of the rotting corpse – a few weeks later – causes the neighbours to call the police to break into the house and find the dead body inside. This happens a lot in UK and USA. It could never happen in Nigeria. For a start, the old person would most likely not be living alone but with family. Even if the old person were living alone (very unlikely indeed in Nigeria) he/she would be visited and interacted with regularly, several times a day – there is no chance of him/her dying in his/her house and not being missed until the smell of a rotting corpse causes the police to break down the door. Not in Nigeria! Never!

The quality of social life and interaction is much richer in Nigeria – loneliness is a word that most Nigerians living in Nigeria would not know how to spell much less know the meaning of. People you just met minutes ago, at a social event or church meeting would offer you a lift home all the way to your front door once it is time to go home and they discover that you don’t have your own transportation. Obviously, you are careful who you accept lifts from in case the motives are not pure, but I am talking here about fellow women, or married couples who have only made your acquaintance 5 minutes ago and are quite willing to offer you a lift home because you don’t have your own transportation. If that were in UK, you would be walking home from that social event – usually in the pouring rain! – while people that attended the same event as you drive past you in their cars.

In Nigeria, if someone saw a person being beaten up, they would intervene and separate the two of them (which I feel is dangerous because I would be worried that if I intervened I could end up badly injured) but the good thing is that people would intervene to save you from being beaten up. In UK or USA, no one will be coming to your aid – they will just walk past and you will have to wait for the police to come and rescue you (or line your body in chalk, if they arrived too late).

PRO-MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN.The typical Nigerian male is pro-marriage and children. He is not marriage-phobic like the black males of the UK and US sometimes have a tendency to be. Not for him the Baby-mama after Baby-Mama option, having babies all over town with several different women. In Nigeria, the expected norm is for a man to get married and have children with the wife he married – anything that deviates from that is very much frowned upon. Nigerian weddings tend to be big social events with hundreds and hundreds of guests involved. The Baby-Mama after Baby-Mama lifestyle is frowned upon by Nigerian society and is not at all the expected norm. That is not to say that a married Nigerian man will not commit adultery (that can and does happen – see part 2 of my report) but the option of just being a collector of Baby-Mamas is a no-no in Nigerian society. A wife and kids is the accepted (and expected) norm. This means that Nigerian children grow up in two parent homes with all the moral, psychological, financial and educational advantages that go with being raised in a two parent home.

These are some of the main points that I think sum up the good about Nigerian people. Like I said, it does not apply to every single Nigerian – it is simply based on my observations over the years and of course, one’s views and experiences differ from those of the next person.

Please feel free to comment as I would love to receive your feedback. Your comments are very welcome whether you agree with me or disagree!If you feel there are any points I have left out, please use the commenting section to bring them to my attention. I will check on them regularly.